The Andretti-Cadillac project is continuing to divide Formula 1, with different parties having different views on the potential expansion of the F1 grid.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has claimed that fans should be excited about the prospect of having motorsport giants such as the Andretti family and General Motors in the sport.
The current F1 grid have expressed their concerns about the financial side of the deal however, questioning who would fund the addition of an extra team, considering it would see the prize pot split another way.
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has shut down the Andretti project multiple times in the past and has recently delivered another brutal blow, claiming that their vocal approach is “not smart.”
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“There were teams like Mario Andretti and Michael Andretti that were very vocal about the will to enter Formula 1,” the Italian told Sky Sports last week.
“In my view, [it’s] not smart to say that the teams are greedy to protect themselves, but that’s my opinion, but there are others that are much less vocal that would like to come into Formula 1.”
Mario Andretti has now hit back at these comments by the F1 CEO, explaining that Andretti-Cadillac are doing everything by the book in their bid to enter Formula 1.
“All we’ve ever done is shown excitement, maybe myself at the prospects of seeing Michael entering Formula 1,” he told PlanetF1.com.
“I don’t think there should be anything wrong with that. For the rest, we’re following every bit of protocol, I think everything is in place right now.
“That’s all we can do. You can look at this thing in different ways, but I don’t feel that we have violated or done anything wrong, just showing the excitement of doing this. So, if we’re a bit open about it, speaking with the press and so forth… that’s life, that’s the way we do things.
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“But I don’t know where anyone could say we’ve done something really wrong, so that’s the way I look at it.”
There is currently a rift in the relationship between the FIA and F1, as both parties have vastly different views on the potential expansion of the grid.
Unfortunately for Andretti-Cadillac, the FIA do not have the power to add another team to the grid, forcing the team to look to reach an agreement with Formula 1.